The one-day coronavirus tally cut to half as another 28 people lost their lives whereas 1,286 fresh cases were reported throughout Pakistan during the last 24 hours (Friday), showed the statistics issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday morning.

As per the latest NCOC data, the overall death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic has surged to 11,914 in Pakistan while the total number of confirmed cases stood at 553,128. The national positivity ratio is recorded at 3.6 percent.

During the past 24 hours (Friday), 1,198 patients have been able to defeat the virus while the number of total recovered cases stood at 508,700.

As usual, Sindh remained the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab and other provinces.

As many as 250,043 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 160,162 in Punjab, 68,180 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18,849 in Balochistan, 41,819 in Islamabad, 9,160 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,915 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

A total of 4,854 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 4,066 in Sindh, 1,948 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 196 in Balochistan, 478 in Islamabad, 270 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 102 in Gilgit Baltistan.

Global developments

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- EU vaccine strategy -

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel defend the European Union's joint Covid-19 vaccination rollout despite its slow start. 

They were speaking after the WHO said Europe and pharma groups must work together to speed up vaccinations in the EU where just 2.5 percent of the population have received a first vaccine dose.

- US cases down 61 percent -

New US Covid-19 cases have declined by 61 percent compared to the peak level on January 8, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials say, with hospitalisations also down nearly 42 percent and the pace of deaths appearing to slow.

- Biden to 'act fast' -

US President Joe Biden says he has to "act fast" to push a huge new economic relief package through Congress, even without Republican support, because many Americans are near the "breaking point."

- 'Out of control' in Germany -

The pandemic in Germany is still out of control due to the existence of variants, the head of its disease control institute Lothar Wieler says, dampening hopes of an easing of its partial lockdown at a government meeting with regions next Wednesday.

- AstraZeneva for under-55s - 

Spain says it will limit use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people under 55, becoming the latest European nation to impose an age restriction on the Anglo-Swedish jab. 

- AstraZeneca and UK variant -

Britain's Oxford University says its researchers behind the joint AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine have found it to have "similar efficacy" against the UK virus variant now dominant across the country.

- Chinese vaccine in Hungary -

Hungary, which is the first EU member to approve and order China's Sinopharm and Russia's Sputnik V jabs, plans to begin administering the Chinese-made vaccine to its citizens later this month, a government minister says.

- Israel to ease lockdown -

Israel announces that it will ease lockdown measures from Sunday but keep its international airport and land borders closed.

- Brazil variant in Spain -

Madrid authorities confirm the first case in the region of the Brazilian variant of coronavirus, which is feared to be particularly infectious, in a 44-year-old man who arrived at Madrid's airport on January 29.

- Local elections for England, Wales -

Local elections in England and Wales will go ahead in May despite the pandemic, the government says, explaining that its vaccination programme should have reached all nine priority groups by the May 6 polling day, the first time it has put a date to the target.

- US trade balance -

Business shutdowns and global shipping disruptions caused by Covid-19 contributed to the US trade deficit surging in 2020 to its highest level since 2008, to reach $678.7 billion, the government reports.

- More than 2.2 million dead -

The coronavirus has killed more than 2,285,334 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

The countries with the most deaths are the US at 455,875, followed by Brazil with 228,795 and Mexico with 162,922.

The global death toll, calculated from official daily figures published by national health authorities, is an underestimate and does not include later revisions by statistics agencies.

With inputs from AFP.